


The Book Beneath the Rubble

by Emerald_Lazers



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Gen, Post-Pacifist Route, Self Insert, Self Insert Week 2016, Self-Insert, Self-Insert Week 2016, self insert week
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-10
Updated: 2016-05-10
Packaged: 2018-06-07 12:37:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,745
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6804763
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Emerald_Lazers/pseuds/Emerald_Lazers
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>You find a journal recounting the events of a dark time. You don't know who this person is or where they are now. You can only guess...</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Book Beneath the Rubble

**Author's Note:**

> A self-insert story for "Self-insert week 2016." For more stories, follow me on tumblr (emeraldlazers.tumblr.com).

(*You find an old, worn notebook amidst some rubble. Curious, you look inside and discover the book is actually a journal. The name is faded.)

(*The first entry)

Dear Journal,  
The impossible just happened: I actually decided to stop being lazy and write down my Ideas. More impossible; another race of beings, calling themselves “monsters,” have just sprung up out of nowhere. Just like that, they're just… here now. Judging from a few of the now endless supply of interview-style youtube videos, they seem friendly. The news has been going crazy over this with their normal conspiracy theories and nonsense. Usually it’s all fluff and exaggeration. I remember watching a documentary about how the media did this whole “year of the shark” thing where they talked about an increase in shark attacks one summer, but actually attacks were at a record low. Something like that. Anyway, the monsters just seem content walking around most of the time. I haven’t seen them get in trouble or anything. It’s just weird that these creatures existed for so long and no-one even knew.

(*Next entry)

Dear Journal,  
I really want to go talk to one but I’m really nervous. I’m trying to understated these weird creatures. I saw one that looked like a rabbit, but the size of a full human, was speaking in perfect english. She (I’m terrible at gender stuff, she looks like a ‘she’) seemed nice, I wanted to talk to her but I didn’t know what to say. Do I just say “hi, how is existence?” I can’t think of anything better than that.

(*Next entry)

Dear Journal,  
I ran into a monster today. He was like a skeleton with an orange or red cape. He called himself Papyrus. Edit: The GREAT Papyrus. Weird that someone would name himself after an old type of paper. He spoke really loudly, to the point where it felt like my ears were going to explode. He used to live in a place called “Snowdin.” We talked for a long time about random things. Most of them having to do with how the sun worked. He thought the sun went around the earth. I tried to correct him, but I kept doing that thing I do, where I don’t articulate as well as I should. It got the point where we were both confused. The best way to describe him would be like a child. Not in a bad way it’s just… he’s a child. Except he’s super tall and a skeleton. So a really tall child with a bad eating disorder… maybe I should stop.

Oh, he said he was also friends with the ambassador between monsters and humans. They were the person that managed to break this magic barrier thing (magic exists now apparently, however I’m not too surprised at this point) and set all the monsters free. Also they did all this when they were like 10 years old?.. I mean of course, why not?

In conclusion: Monsters; pretty good. 10/10.

(*You wonder how old this author is. They seem very informal with their writing. You proceed to the next entry)

Dear Journal,  
I guess this was inevitable. Apparently some politician named “Jereko“ is spouting some fear-mongering nonsense about the Monster race. I don't think this man has ever gone outside and looked for himself. People are bound to see that, and he’ll fade into obscurity pretty soon.

On the other hand, Paperman (I tried to call him that, he didn’t get it) introduced me to his friend Undyne. She is like a woman but with scales and a fish head and an eyepatch. Also she can makes spears appear out of nowhere. She’s… very energetic. She bent a stop sign in half. Most of the meeting was Papyrus and Undyne yelling things at each other. I wanted to say something but I couldn’t help the feeling like I was about to have my head pushed through a brick wall if I did.

Her knowledge of human history is pretty funny. I laughed a few times at her crazy “interpretations” (then stopped laughing immediately because she reaaaaally didn’t like that). Her “version” of our history has like princesses and huge swords and stuff. There was something about giant robots. I thought she was kidding but… she wasn’t. She makes me a bit nervous but I think that’s a ‘me thing’.

(*Next Entry)

Dear Journal,  
Jereko is a joke and Frisk is actually awesome. There was a televised debate between the two recently. The kid was good. They used the simplest things and completely destroyed Jereko. I don’t remember the words exactly but this part was hilarious:

-Jereko: "Monsters have been harassing a lot of people. They just show up unannounced to people’s homes and invite themselves in without permission. I’ve seen pictures of people’s houses in shambles due to the actions of Monsters. How would you feel if an animal came into your house and started to destroy everything. You would want something done to control that animal right?"

\- Frisk: "...Where are you getting this from?"

Jereko: "I just told you, there are many reports of this sort of action."

Frisk: have you ever actually met a monster? 

Perfect. I want to meet this kid now.

Other than that, I invited my friends over recently. Papyrus, Undyne, and they even brought another named ‘Alphys’. The best way to describe her is a... lizard? She reminds me of my own phase of social awkwardness. She wore something that looked like a dress but it’s draped over her funny. Anyway, she was apparently a scientist, for the king of the monsters himself. She was fired. Since magic exists and was probably involved, I really want to know what crazy wizardry must have gone down for that to happen.

Oh, I learned why Undyne thinks human history is so… different. She thinks Anime is human history. Now it all makes sense in a ‘is-this-actually-happening’ sort of way. She scares me a bit too much for me to try and correct her. 

(*Next Entry)

Dear Journal,  
This Jereko thing isn’t funny anymore. I mean, really. He keeps taking up more and more space on TV news channels. Don’t people see how dumb this guys is? Papyrus came over today, (he brought his brother, I’ll get to that later) and some asshole started yelling things at him.

Apparently people are trying to make “fakes” a bad word. Like monsters are just not even real at all. It doesn’t matter that ‘fakes’ sounds like the dumbest excuse for a word ever, It was how the guy said it. Luckily the attempted insults flew right over Papyrus’ head. He’s like a void of happiness. All insults and bad things go in and are never seen again.

Anyway, the brother, Sans. If Papyrus is infinite innocence, than Sans is infinitely laid-back. He tells a lot of bad jokes. Just like- more than anyone ever should. Papyrus hates it, to the point of my neighbors sending me a noise complaint because of his yelling. Also all my ketchup is gone.

(*Next Entry)

Dear Journal,  
Pizza night was a bit unsettling. Frisk was actually supposed to come over… like here, to my house. However, It turned out they were busy. I really wanted to meet them too! That’s besides the point. What did happen was that Alphys, Undyne, and Papyrus came over to watch anime and eat pizza. They just left a few minutes ago. Sans was supposed to show up but... he didn’t.

I can’t shake this feeling. I decided to walk them to the bus stop because I felt a bit concerned for them. Undyne probably could have handled anything, but I still felt like I needed to do something for reasons I don’t quite understand. The whole time we were walking, this group of people was staring at us. My friends didn’t seem to notice, but I did. I can’t help feel something bad is about to happen.

(*Next Entry)

D. Journal,  
Jereko. His popularity isn’t showing any signs of slowing down. One of my friends (a human named “Sean”), has started regurgitating his nonsensical Ideas that monsters are only here to hurt us and cause problems. Also there is even more bad news; a monster was killed by someone. A few others were beaten up pretty bad. Why does this happen?

I told my monster friends that maybe visits here should be a bit more infrequent. I beginning to doubt the safety of this neighborhood, for both my friends, and myself. Luckily they all have access to internet and skype. We spent a few hours on video chat talking about stuff. Random things, like anime, videogames, hobbies, possibilities for future careers. We tried to keep talk of the news short, it’s not exactly fun. Undyne is unpleasant when she is legitimately upset, it makes the whole situation feel worse somehow.

(*Next Entry)

D. Journal,  
Note to self: pick up milk, beef, onions, angel hair spaghetti, tomatoes. Also a guide on how to not horribly disfigure a batch of spaghetti.

P.S. Stop watching the news.

(*Next Entry)

Journal,  
Friends came over; no problems. Everyone came (except Frisk who I assume never will because of their schedule): Alphys, Undyne, Papyrus, even Sans. Had dinner; no problems, mainly because I was the one who ‘offered’ to cook. Everyone seemed to think that the spaghetti was “AMAZINGLY SUPERB! ALMOST AS GREAT AS THE COOKING OF THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WHICH IS ME!” Making food isn’t exactly difficult, just follow directions and your done. Overall, up to this point; no problems.

Friends left and got safely home; slight problem. Some guy yelled something insulting at Undyne. I, and everyone else, had to convince her to not to straight-up attack him. That was easy. No it wasn’t. It took all of us working together just to hold her back. She gets angry much easier I’ve noticed. Probably because she too listens to the news and she isn’t taking it well.

Everything else, I mean like… wow. I wish that ignoring the news made it go away. More monsters dying senselessly. It’s almost a steady stream, and those are just the ones being reported in the news, there are probably many more.

(*Next Entry)

Journal,  
Jereko. Need I say more? Actually, yes… unfortunately. The government is in the process of debating certain anti-monster laws. I’ve skimmed the details, they don’t look good. I will have to do more in-depth research later. It will probably only increase the feeling that passing these laws would not be good at all. With how things have been going recently… well, I don’t want to say. Still, I’m trying to hope for the best. Our late night skype conversations between me and my friends seem to be a regular thing now. Talking with them is all I can think about while I’m at work.

(*Next Entry)

Journal,  
Not good.

(*This next entry is written farther down on the same page.)

Journal,  
It doesn’t making any fucking sense. I thought things were supposed to go forward. This is how it works: People are thought of as less, then there is a big battle for equality, then it happens for those people and things are much better. How can the opposite be happening?

I really don’t want to write this down, but it’s important that this is known, just in case. Earlier today, two acts have been passed by the government. The “Human Safety Act” (HSA), and the “Non-Human Identification Act” (NIA).

Okay, here we go, I’ll start with the least bad one. NIA is simple and relatively tolerable, although It has the possibility of ending badly. It basically states that all monster will be, for lack of a better word, branded as monsters. They will have to go to the DMV, (sorry, not the DMV, a special monsters-only DMV that looks even more run down than a normal one) and register their identity and species with the government. They get specific papers which they must carry around with them at all times. Also they are given what is called a “Red Card” (I’ll get to that). As if being a monster wasn’t obvious right?

Here is where things get bad; If you have a red card... that is not good. HSA gives business owners the right to refuse service or acceptance of job applications. It also gives banks, mortgage lenders, home owners, land owns, etc. (that whole lot) the option to refuse their services as well.

In other words, monsters are no longer protected by laws that would guarantee their rights to basic everyday things. I’m still figuring out the details on how it affects monsters who already have jobs and homes and the like. However, I think (and I will have to look this up), it gives the option for those previously states to take away jobs, houses and loans with no compensation if a monster already has those things. How does this ensure “Human Safety?”

I’m freaking out a bit, my hands are shaking so writing this has been difficult, so I’ll just summarize my thoughts here: Fuck Jereko.

(*Next Entry)

Journal,  
I met Frisk today, and… wow. Okay, let me start from the beginning. My friends, as it turns out, have some connections to some pretty important people in the monster hierarchy (Is that what It’s called?). Undyne came to me and asked if I wanted to join her, our other friends, Frisk and even the Royal Family for a sort-of-formal, but sort-of-informal meeting. How cool is that? Well, I couldn’t sit still until we got there. Then the actual reason behind this meeting made that feeling of eagerness subside. It wasn’t exactly happy, but, now that I think about it, I find that it does make me feel better. Going too fast again, I’ll slow down.

So we get to this building. It is referred to as “The Surface Castle,” (wow, clever name) but it looks nothing like an actual castle. It was more of a run down office building that was given to the Monsters to act as a sort of embassy. Everyone I already met was there, along with a bunch of other monsters I didn’t know. Apparently they were the heads of many other monster operated departments. I don’t know a lot about bureaucracy, so just know that these guys are important to keep their society running smoothly.

The topic at hand: well, here comes the sobering part. There was a big discussion about how the relation between humans and monsters were going. And yes, that includes the murders. I wanted to chime in, but I was too nervous to say anything. Every time a thought formed in my head that was good enough to share, it would immediately fizzle out. That, or someone else would say what I was thinking, or at least something similar. I never really liked group discussions in school... but this was a bit more than that.

The way Frisk talked was just… I feel bad for them. They are young, really young, but I couldn’t help but feel this... weight to their words. They talked like someone who had seen too much. There were bags under their eyes, I wonder how much sleep they get. They seem like a good kid, I really wanted to give them a hug.

However, here is the good part; things are actually looking up. We have a plan to push back against NIA, and HSA, and Jereko, and all this other shit that has been happening to the monsters. There is going to be a rally. In the country's capital. There’s gonna be a huge assembly of monsters to protest the things that have been happening to them. As I am writing this, the Royal Family is making their connections to get as many supportive humans as possible to join us. With both Human and Monster alike, we can show that this needs to stop!

Finally, to round off the night. Me and Frisk’s mother (not their real mother, Frisk was adopted by a monster named ‘Toriel’), had a long conversation. Also, she just so happens to be the queen of the monster race. We just talked about random things. Of course there was talk of current events, but we also talked about what we do in our free time, what our favorite food is, we even talked about the weather. Yeah, the cliche thing where people are like “wonderful weather we're having,” that is real and it happened. She also gave me a hug. I learned that people who are have fur give really comfortably hugs.

All in all, today was a good day. Great even. I’m sure the rally will go even better!

(*The next entry is empty.)

(*You flip to the next page, it is blank.)

(* You go to the next one, this too is blank.)

(*You start to notice the pages are crumpled, like someone was gripping the paper tightly.)

(*You turn the page once again. You have reached the next entry.)

Journal,  
I’m freaking out. Oh my god. Why? Why did this have to happen? I think Frisk is dead. They were shot. It was a massacre. 

It was going so well too! The streets were filled with monsters and humans alike. All of them were marching for the same thing. People were coming out of their houses to join. There was this big podium/stage thing set up in front of the capitol building. I was in the very front row. It looked like that weight Frisk had been carrying was gone. They started to give their speech. It sounded great, everyone could hear their message. Then there was a loud noise. Frisk fell back, covered in blood.

There was screaming. Something about a gun. I wanted to run over and help Frisk, but I was too scared to do anything. So I, like everybody else, started running. I heard more shots, but I don’t know where it came from. I managed to get out unharmed, but a few monsters, and even humans who hear there to show their supporter, were shot. To make it worse, a lot of people were trampled in the stampeded.  
(*There is angry looking scribbling lines on this part of the page)

I managed to get a hold of Alphys, she said Undyne was re-establishing the Royal Guard or something. Vigilantees are everywhere right now. I don’t even want to leave my house.

(*Next Entry)

Journal,  
Things are bad. My remaining friends are on the run from murderers. I need to do something.

(*Next Entry)

Journal,  
I haven’t slept in days. It’s hard to go to work everyday and perform well when so much is happening. My nights have been dedicating to finding my monster friends. Luckily they aren’t dumb and remembered to bring their cell phones with them. 

A lot of other monsters are trying to make their way back to the Underground. I heard there are people out there, just waiting. Hunting and killing monsters as they run by. The state authorities are doing nothing to stop this. Ironic isn’t it? Monsters have been trapped underground for so long, and when they finally get their chance to leave, all they want is to go back. Heh… that’s not funny.

I can’t lose hope. I have a plan to help Alphys, Papyrus and Sans. Undyne is still off doing whatever it is she is doing. She is really strong. I think if anyone can handle themselves, it would be her. Still I’m worried. I really just want to talk to her to be honest. 

I can’t really think about that right now. I need to stay focused. I hope this goes better than everything else so far... I probably shouldn’t have said that.

(*Next Entry)

Journal,  
We set up a meeting point over the phone. I took a bunch of blankets with me as I drove to the spot in my car. It was two hours away by car. I’m not sure how they ended up so far away, but I just assumed it was out of necessity. 

I was in another city, driving through a pretty bad looking neighborhood. I parked the car and after a tense couple of minutes, I spotted them. There was this park. It had a flat area of grass at the bottom of a bluff; another road rested on top of the hill. The sloped bluff was covered in plants. Apparently, Alphys, Papyrus and Sans were hiding in the bushes while I was driving over there.

This was the tricky part, I had to climb up, toss the blankets over them and get them back to the car without being seen. It was nighttime, but there were a couple of lit windows that had me in their line of sight. I stayed in the shadows as much as I could, clumsily carrying my wad of blankets. I got over to them. Alphys looked terrified and was shivering. Papyrus didn’t look happy; a rare and frankly unnerving sign. Sans wasn’t even there. Papyrus nervously told me Sans would get to my house on his own. I was too stressed and apprehensive to really care at the time; all I wanted was to get them home safely. 

I draped the blankets over them. If it caused someone to need just that second to realize there was a monster underneath it, that was enough reason to bring it. It felt like every moment was bringing us closer to being discovered. I don’t know what happens to humans who help monster, but I really don’t want to find out.

When we got the the bottom of the bluff, we sprinted to the car. Alphys curled up, pressed into the back seat, Papyrus folded his legs and arms to fit into the trunk, both covered in blankets, and out of sight. I kept my car’s headlights off until we were out of the ghetto area.

Then came the most stressful two and a half hours of my life. It took longer to get back to the house because there was a Monster Death-squad in the area. I saw the squad cars way too much. They seemed to be scattered around everywhere, like they were specifically scanning the area for us. I, at many points, thought we were being followed. 

Eventually I got onto the freeway and went as fast as I could. I really should have slowed down; a cop car could have easily seen I was speeding. If I was pulled over, I think my friends would have been found out. I can’t trust the police. In fact, It may still be possible that I was noticed. They just haven’t caught up yet.

I finally pulled into my driveway. I rushed them through the front door. I made sure to close all the blinds and curtains and I didn’t turn the lights on. I still am keeping this place in the dark; I’m writing this with a flashlight. Somehow Sans was already here, just sitting in the darkness at the kitchen table; asleep. I felt a bit better knowing he was okay, but now I’m wondering if he was seen.

Everyone is hiding in the basement now. I surprised Alphys by pulling her into a hug. She jumped at first but then actually hugged me back. I guess fear somehow eclipsed her social awkwardness. I think we both needed it. Papyrus is doing better now that Sans is here. Everyone is fine, but I can’t help but feel that people are going to show up at my door now.

I wish Undyne was here.

(*Next Entry)

Journal,  
As it turns out, Papyrus’ almost unshakable gleefulness helps a lot. He seems to be back to his old self and his happiness is infectious. I spend all my time after work just sitting with them and talking in the basement. Sans’ still makes me nervous. He just shows up and vanishes. He ensured me he isn’t going to be seen, but It’s hard to be convinced.

(*Next Entry)

Journal,  
At first I was terrified. a van pulled up to my house and two people came up to my door. A man (human) and someone else who wore a cowl. I thought about running, but then the man put a picture of the Delta Rune (the monster race’s symbol. I hope whoever reads this doesn’t live in a world where this symbol is gone.) on my window so I could just make it out through the blinds. I saw it and cautiously opened the door.

The person in the cowl turned out to be Toriel. Frisk is alive! She told me she needed an inconspicuous place to hide them. I still can’t believe was trusted me with this after we had only met once. When I asked to see the kid, the man went over and wheeled something out from the van. There was a sheet over it. As it turns out, it was a portable medical bed with wheels; laying under the sheet was Frisk. They were in a coma.

I quickly got everyone inside. We managed to get the bed into the basement. Toriel asked me if this whole thing was okay, but I was more than fine with it from the start. It makes me feel like things are getting better. I told her Frisk would be no trouble and that I was glad to… I guess protect them (that is one word for it). 

Toriel gave me instructions on how Frisk should be treated. It’s quite simple actually, just fill the machines up and let them handle everything. Toriel left pretty quickly. I got the feeling she was just managing to hold back how tired, stressed, sad, how... everything she was. Her eyes look like she gets less sleep than me.

Again, Frisk is alive. Morale seemed to have increased around here. I just hope the kid wakes up.

(*Next Entry)

It’s been a very long time since I last wrote in this journal. Try as I might, I simply don’t have enough income to support everyone. My life savings is reaching it’s end. I’ll figure it out somehow. I talked with Sans about this. He told me that, if needed, he could handle things. He sounds serious, more serious than ever actually. I really don’t want to abandon my friends, and that includes Frisk. I’ve never really met them, but I feel some kind of connection. I can’t explain it.

(*Next Entry)

Things have taken a turn for the worst. I had to make some deals with some pretty bad people to keep the money flowing. I think people are on to me. For now, everyone is fine.

(*You find the last page, the handwriting is poor and scratchy, like this person was rushing to write down something. You can barely make out the words.)

I have to go now. To whoever finds this journal, I don’t know what will happen. For monsters, or the human race as a whole, or even to myself, it’s no longer safe. There are people here. They are bad. Sans, Papyrus, Alphys, Frisk, Undyne, Toriel, and the entire remaining monster race, please be okay.

(*You close the journal, not sure how to proceed. The events depicted in the book were so long ago. You motion and grab the attention of someone. King Asgore, who you have been escorting, comes over. You hand him the book.)

(*The king opens a random page and skims the contents. He quickly goes back to the first page and reads at a much slower pace from end to end. After a very long time, he closes the book.)

(*“So,” he begins, “this is what happened. Isn't it funny that we just happen to come across this by complete accident? Tori, I mean, Toriel has told me much about this human.” Asgore pauses and looks off into the distance, scanning the horizon of destroyed buildings. “Things weren’t exactly perfect when our race first came to the surface. As we both know, everything turned out okay eventually… In case you're wondering, everyone in the book is fine, but I wonder where this human is now… Oh,” said the King as he turns to face you. “Since you found this, it’s yours, but do you mind if I keep it? I want everyone to see this.”)

(*You nod)

The End


End file.
